Philippics Passage 75

profectus est aliquando tandem in Hispaniam; sed tuto, ut ait, pervenire non potuit. quonam modo igitur Dolabella pervenit? aut non suscipienda fuit ista causa, Antoni, aut, cum suscepisses, defendenda usque ad extremum. ter depugnavit Caesar cum civibus, in Thessalia, Africa, Hispania. omnibus adfuit his pugnis Dolabella; in Hispaniensi etiam volnus accepit. si de meo iudicio quaeris, nollem; sed tamen consilium a primo reprehendendum, laudanda constantia. tu vero quid es? Cn. Pompei liberi tum primum patriam repetebant. esto , fuerit haec partium causa communis. repetebant praeterea deos patrios , aras, focos, larem suum familiarem, in quae tu invaseras . haec cum peterent armis ei quorum erant legibus - etsi in rebus iniquissimis quid potest esse aequi? - tamen quem erat aequissimum contra Cn. Pompei liberos pugnare ? quem? te sectorem.

At long last he set out for Spain, but, as he says, he could not arrive safely. How, then, did Dolabella arrive? Either that cause should not have been undertaken, Antonius, or, once you had undertaken it, it should have been defended to the end. Caesar fought citizens three times, in Thessaly, Africa, and Spain. Dolabella was present at every battle and was even wounded in Spain. If you ask my judgment, I wish he had not been; yet while his original decision must be condemned, his constancy deserves praise. But what are you? The sons of Gnaeus Pompeius were then reclaiming their country for the first time. Granted, this may have been the common cause of their faction. They were also reclaiming their ancestral gods, altars, hearths, and household Lar, upon which you had intruded. When those to whom these belonged by law sought them with arms, although what justice can exist amid such utter injustice?, who was it most fitting to fight against the sons of Gnaeus Pompeius? Who? You, the buyer of their confiscated property.

Il partit enfin un jour pour l’Espagne, mais, dit-il, il ne put arriver sans danger. Comment donc Dolabella y parvint-il? Ou bien tu ne devais pas embrasser cette cause, Antoine, ou bien, après l’avoir embrassée, tu devais la défendre jusqu’au bout. César combattit trois fois contre des citoyens, en Thessalie, en Afrique et en Espagne. Dolabella assista à toutes ces batailles; en Espagne, il fut même blessé. Si tu demandes mon jugement, j’aurais préféré qu’il ne le fît pas; mais s’il faut blâmer sa décision initiale, il faut louer sa constance. Et toi, qu’es-tu donc? Les fils de Cn. Pompée cherchaient alors pour la première fois à recouvrer leur patrie. Soit, admettons que ce fût la cause commune de leur parti. Ils cherchaient en outre à reprendre les dieux de leurs pères, leurs autels, leurs foyers et leur Lare familial, dont tu t’étais emparé. Puisqu’ils réclamaient par les armes ce qui leur appartenait selon les lois, encore que, dans des circonstances parfaitement iniques, que peut-il subsister d’équitable? qui était le mieux désigné pour combattre les fils de Cn. Pompée? Qui? Toi, l’adjudicataire de ses biens.